Just saying hi. New Satoh S370 owner.

[kensnelling]

Any thought on using the Beaver to mow down 30 acres? It is a daunting task 4 feet at a time. I've run the tractor for about a total of 8 hours now and I think I got through about 10 acres. The first day I know I could have gotten a lot more work done had I not been overheating the engine. Not knowing better, I ran the PTO on the shredder in 5th (high) gear while running the tractor in 3 high. Let's just say I was moving along and mulched that grass into dust. The engine light came on after about 20 minutes and would go off if I shut it down for 10-15 minutes and then I would start again. After 3 hours of this I noticed the engine wasn't running poorly and decided to just finish up that last little bit and ran it hot for an hour. I headed back out yesterday with some foaming engine cleaner, compressed air, and a bug sprayer full of water and cleaned the radiator until I could see through about 85% of it. Expecting a warped head or dropped ring, I hit the glow plug for about a minute and it fired right up. I ran the tractor in 3 high but the PTO in 2nd and I mowed for 2 solid hours without the light coming on and I couldn't believe how fast it started up, first hit in the mid 30's. I thought the cold would make it difficult to start. Ran like a bat out of ****. Broke a bunch of 3 point pins and the sway chains going so quick.

Mike, just curious what RPM you're running the tractor at when you're shredding. Just concerned you may be spinning your shredder a little fast. The gray market tractors have multiple PTO speeds, but over in Japan they have implements designed to operate at higher pto speeds. Your Brush Hog should be rated for a 540 rpm speed.

Ken

 

[caferacermike]

Well as I said, I certainly was spinning it way too fast. lol.


I've zero experience with a tractor. I've just really wanted one for about 3 years. I like large metal things and it was probably the only thing I haven't owned at some point or another. A couple of years ago, to shake the bug, I picked up a 64 or so Cub Cadet 100 IH and put AG tires on it so it looked just like a mini tractor. I would ride it up and down the block to the Shell station to keep it topped off and get a soda every now and then. Just for fun.

So when I got the Beav.. I had no idea what I was doing. In fact it was funny because the original owner told me it only had "low" and "high" as options for the PTO, yet I found it had 4 location holes for the speed selector. I made my first pass with the PTO set in the 1st selection, and it was running really slow and making a mess so I put it in the highest speed. I rode it around all day and it did an amazing job, but the tractor began to overheat. That's why you'll see in my post that I did some research and have since decided on running it in the second speed of the PTO. The engine has no tach so I have no idea how to judge the speed of the PTO. I do have access to a digital RPM gun that I can stick a piece of reflective tape onto the PTO shaft and it would tell me exactly how fast it was spinning, but I'm lazy.

Owners manual says I was running around 1,200 rpm the first day and that 1st on the PTO is 517. My understanding that 540 is the ideal speed. 2nd is about 760. However the manual does confuse me a bit. It has different speeds if an adapter is used. My tractor does not have the dreaded small PTO and CCW rotation, it has a regular size shaft and turns CW. For me it makes me wonder what the speed actually is. Do I have an aftermarket or OEM reverser? I need to double check the tag but I believe my S370 is a 77 model.

Any advice on the PTO speed would be appreciated.

 

[caferacermike]

Pictures of my homemade sway chains installed,

After installing them I could really see the Bush Hog move side to side as I adjusted them. Didn't get a chance to fire up the Beaver as we were there for iron erecting and not shredding today.

 

[kensnelling]

...In fact it was funny because the original owner told me it only had "low" and "high" as options for the PTO, yet I found it had 4 location holes for the speed selector. I made my first pass with the PTO set in the 1st selection, and it was running really slow and making a mess so I put it in the highest speed. I rode it around all day and it did an amazing job, but the tractor began to overheat. That's why you'll see in my post that I did some research and have since decided on running it in the second speed of the PTO. The engine has no tach so I have no idea how to judge the speed of the PTO. I do have access to a digital RPM gun that I can stick a piece of reflective tape onto the PTO shaft and it would tell me exactly how fast it was spinning, but I'm lazy.

Owners manual says I was running around 1,200 rpm the first day and that 1st on the PTO is 517. My understanding that 540 is the ideal speed. 2nd is about 760. However the manual does confuse me a bit. It has different speeds if an adapter is used. My tractor does not have the dreaded small PTO and CCW rotation, it has a regular size shaft and turns CW. For me it makes me wonder what the speed actually is. Do I have an aftermarket or OEM reverser? I need to double check the tag but I believe my S370 is a 77 model.

Any advice on the PTO speed would be appreciated.

First. let me say it is my nature to come across as a little overbearing. so please forgive me as I'm not trying to be a jerk.

On the range selector that was probably just a misunderstanding. I believe your transmission range selector has a high and low setting, obviously your pto has 4 speeds.

If you were in fact only running at 1200 RPM no wonder you made a mess in pto speed 1 and overheating. I'm fairly sure you were going a faster than that as idle speed is only 900-1000 rpm. I'm not sure on your tractor, but on my D2000 engine PTO rpm is 2450. I think the S370 is rated at an engine rpm of 2700, but your owners manual should say for sure.

As a reference these are my PTO speeds @ 2450 rpm engine speed:
1 - 540 rpm
2 - 753 rpm
3 - 998 rpm
4 - 1284 rpm

To get 540 rpm on mine in pto 2 I run an engine rpm of 1700. I don't use that very often, only if things are really dry and fairly thin (like the past 2 summers). Those are numbers I came up with a few years ago using my digital non contact tachometer. I got mine from Harbor Freight a few years ago, think they are still around $40, and very handy to have. For a point of reference my MF 230 diesel makes pto speed 540 at an engine RPM of 1600, so it's not a bad idea to check and see just what your tractor actually needs for engine rpm versus pto rpm.

On your tach problem go ahead and check it out, it may be something as simple as one end of the cable is unhooked. If it does require parts there are suppliers out there who can fix you up. I do strongly urge you to repair your tachometer as it is a very necessary instrument in using your tractor correctly.

In your earlier post you I believe you said you're mowing 30 acres with a 4 foot brush hog. Wow. Even though it's tempting, don't use too high of a ground speed when you're mowing as you'll just break things on your tractor (like anti sway chains, lol). By the way, nice job on the anti sway chains you built, those oughta last you forever.

Anyway, nice little tractor you've got there, enjoy using it. If there's anything else I can help you with just ask and either I or someone a lot smarter than I am will try to help.

Ken

 

[caferacermike]

I've switched to running the PTO in 1 and it does an ok job of cutting with the Bush Hog. It leaves a lot of cut grasses around instead of mulching them into dust, but hey as long as I don't kill the Beaver then I guess it's the lesser of the 2 evils.

So I've had to clean the radiator fins 3 times to prevent overheating. I've not had another overheat again since I slowed the PTO and cleaned the fins. I've been in some tall thick crap working it for 3 hours on a 65 degree day so until it gets to 110 here in TX, the overheating seems to be a thing of the past. What can I do to stop the fins from packing up? I'm thinking about a way to use something like a ratchet tie down strap and some heavy aluminum bug screen to kind of make a prefilter that stands far enough away from the radiator that the fan won't keep gunk stuck to the screen. My plan is to wrap the outside of the radiator and strapping it all the way around the perimeter of the radiator so that there are no open areas. Any thoughts?




And nothing stops this thing. I got a little bored after knocking out 2 more acres the other night and decided to tackle the artificial hill from previous owners pond making attempt. The hill is about 15' tall at about a 60 degree angle with 1/2"-1" saplings of some nasty thorny brush about 6' tall, head on in 2nd gear high speed, PTO in 1 low, and it would knock the brush down and shred it to bits without a hesitation all while climbing right on up and over. I've been cruising through a bamboo field, some other nasty brush about 7-9' tall and again right on through. I giggle a little when I think about what this thing will run through.

 

[oliver28472]

I took some 1/4" plywood, cut out the middle to make a frame. Stapled aluminum screen to that. It works pretty good and was easy to make.

 

[caferacermike]

Does the fan suck crap into the screen until it is clogged? If so is the plywood set up to easily remove and give a shake to clean?

 

[oliver28472]

Yes, the screen fits fairly close to the radiator and is held in place by some tabs that I think are there to hold a OEM screen. Measure and dry fit before you cut the center out of the plywood. I've had my tractors for years after making the screens was almost ashamed that I hadn't made them before. Pretty easy to do. About all you need in the way of tools is a jigsaw, drill, and hd stapler. You can cut the screen with scissors.

 

[caferacermike]

Thanks for that. Will mock up something in cardboard next time I go for a visit.



It won't knock down 2" or larger trees :talktothehand: Nope stops it in it's little tracks. LOL. I know better but figured I just had to try.

It won't pull a 2" tree out with chains either , at least not with those turf tires. They just spin.


I was able to shred for about 5 continuous hours yesterday before my light came on for the overheat. I got off and had a look, the fins were clogged again. Thankfully I got a lot of land mowed down before hand and the sun would have set in 30 more minutes so I put the PTO in neutral and headed to the tarp. After about 5 minutes of 3rd gear high with no load, it cooled itself off enough to turn off the light. The outside temperature was around 68, not a bad day in January thank you very much.

 

[wrenchturner]

The Satoh 370 is a very tough little tractor. I have one but unfortunately I loaned it out and well, you know the rest of the story. I had done much work to mine and will gladly give you advise. It was nice to read about your experiences as it reminded me of when I first bought mine.